Films scheduled at opera house

BANGOR – River City Cinema’s partnership with the Penobscot Theatre continues in November and December when the film group will screen six films in the Bangor Opera House, 131 Main St. Invited by Scott Levy, producing artistic director of Penobscot Theatre, to show some of its films in the historic building, River City Cinema becomes the first local arts group to become part of Levy’s plan to make the Opera House a community arts center.

“We hope to create partnerships with a number of community organizations to make the Bangor Opera House not only the home of Penobscot Theatre Company, but also a community gathering place for many different kinds of arts experience,” Levy said.

Over three successive Saturdays the “Color Trilogy: Blue, White, Red,” by director Kryzsztof Kieslowski, will be presented and discussed. Films to be shown on the successive Fridays are “Off the Map,” “Mad, Hot Ballroom” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”

The November-December Penobscot Theatre schedule offers River City Cinema a chance to draw from its list of significant films that by-passed Bangor at the time of their release. In the weeks preceding a Penobscot Theatre production, films will be chosen to tie in with an upcoming play. The film group will continue its regular series, the international-themed Greetings from the World on Friday, Dec. 16, in the Brewer Middle School auditorium.

The schedule for the films, to be shown at 7:30 p.m. at the Opera House, is:

Friday, Nov. 18: “Off the Map.” Campbell Scott directs this adaptation of a play by Joan Ackerman starring Joan Allen, Amy Brenneman and Sam Elliott. Set in the desert of northern New Mexico, a family begins a journey of self-discovery.

Saturday, Nov. 19: “Blue.” The first film in Kieslowski’s “Three Colors” trilogy. Blue, the first color in the French flag, represents Liberty, part of the national motto. Juliette Binoche plays Julie, a gifted musician who has recently lost her husband, a famous composer, and son in a car accident. In the film, Kieslowski uses color as metaphor as the devastated widow tries to uncover her husband’s secret life. The film brought Binoche a Best Actress award in the Venice Film Festival.

Friday, Nov. 25: “Mad Hot Ballroom.” The documentary about 60 New York City fifth-graders learning ballroom dancing shows an unscripted slice of inner-city life. The 10- and 11-year-olds learn to fox trot, waltz, rumba and tango to compete in an annual tournament with their peers from other schools.

Saturday, Nov. 26: “White.” In the second film in Kieslowski’s trilogy, white, the middle color in the French flag, represents equality. In “White” Julie Delpy stars in a dark comedy about the price of passion. The film earned Kieslowski the Best Director Award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Friday, Dec. 2: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” An intelligent romantic comedy about memories and losing them, the film presents a complex look at love and life. Directed by Michel Gondry, the film stars Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Tim Wilkinson.

Saturday, Dec. 3: “Red.” An engrossing film of fate, chance and parallel lives, red, the third color in the French flag, represents fraternity. Philosophically challenging, the film is a meditation on the need for human connection. It stars Irene Jacob and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Shot in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1994, “Red” was nominated for three Oscars and named Best Foreign Film by the New York Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics. “Red” was Kieslowski’s last film as director.

Admission is $5 for each film. For more information, visit www.rivercitycinema.com.